Author Topic: Early wakings  (Read 1554 times)

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Offline m eyston

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Early wakings
« on: April 30, 2011, 07:33:55 am »
My LO is now just under 7 months and has been early waking for a month. 

We tried W2S for three mornings i.e. stirred him at 4.15 to try and get him over his 5.15am habit wake up which worked for a couple of mornings only for him to resort back to the 5.15am wake up again. 
He is not hungry as he just murmurs in bed until 6.30am when I pick him up.  His room is blacked out.
 
I started weaning at 5 months which he took too beautifully and is now on 3 meals a day.  He has been a babywhisperer baby from birth onwards.  The EW's are now beginning to take their toll (I have two other boys 6 and 4) and he really only has 2 hours in him of A time before he yawns.  I stretch him as much as I feel possibly before his naps become plagued by the 45min cycle of overtiredness but by the afternoon he is so OT that I spend a lot of time trying to re-settle him.  We have moved his BT forward slowly to 7pm.  It was nearer 8pm due to trying to get three boys to sleep meant it was hard to get them all fed, bathed etc before then.  Now the boys are used to him going to sleep before them so 7pm bedtime is fine. 

The problem is, his 5.15am wake up means he gets more tired and less relaxed and able to sleep throughout the day.  Not to mention me grinding my teeth everytime he wakes me up at 5.15.      I put him to sleep around 8ish - the boys are getting ready for school so there is a lot of noise but he is beginning to get used to going to sleep during this noise.   His afternoon naps are erratic.  Sometimes he wakes up after 45mins but puts himself back to sleep after 20 minutes of moaning.  Sometimes he wakes up after 45mins and gets progressively more awake until we try to re-settle him for an hour or so but to no avail at which point I imagine he is hungry and so have to bf him. 

We then give him a CT later on in the afternoon.

It seems almost impossible to get out of this 5.15 rut which is messing up his "contentment" during the day. 

His days is usually as follows:

5.15am Wakes up
6.30 I pick up to bf.
7.30 Solids
8.15 Sleep for between 1.5 - 2 hours
10.30 bf
12.30 solids
1.00 Sleep for either 45 mins or if lucky 1.5 hours
2.00/3.00 wake this is where is all goes wrong as he begins to get very tired for bt if he wakes at 2
3.00 bf
4.30/5.30 Sleep (cat nap) when I put him down depends on when he wakes up from 2nd nap
5.30/6 solids
6.45 bf
7/7.15 sleep

My biggest problem is the EW can wake up the boys (very small flat) and so we are all tired and grumpy for the rest of the day.  I go to bed soon after they have in order to try and get a good amount of sleep before the day kicks off again but lieing in bed listening to him moan for an hour and a half is beginning to make me very tetchy.

Has anyone got any good ideas as to how to crack this?

scucci1979

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Re: Early wakings
« Reply #1 on: April 30, 2011, 11:20:53 am »
Quote (selected)
Not to mention me grinding my teeth everytime he wakes me up at 5.15.   
YUP! :P

Just a thought! Can you push out his second nap after a good am nap. I also think he is getting close to dropping the CN. 

Offline m eyston

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Re: Early wakings
« Reply #2 on: April 30, 2011, 11:49:23 am »

Thank you for your quick reply.

The cat nap is a moot point as I tried to get rid of it and then the EW started and so I slotted it back in as the quote from BW of good sleep during day makes good sleep at night keeps running through my head. 

Today has unravelled like a jumper.  He only slept for 1 hour 20min in the morning which has meant trying to feed him solids at 12 which he refused and putting him down at 12.15 as he is so overtired and grumpy.  I am now having to hold him a lot during the day as he is not his content self and am finding myself slowly dissolving in to tears all day as I have done BW since the start and worked really hard at it just for these EW to blow everything to pieces.  It all feels like such a waste of time and I am left with a baby who can't not be held and whose smiles have gone because he is so overtired plus my young boys are away for the weekend but return Sunday and my partner is away on business most of May so I am feeling desperate to say the least...

I will try and push that second nap out if I ever get a good nap in the morning again.  I worry that by pushing the second nap I will have an OT baby who will start waking after 45 mins.  Is this not the case anymore i.e. has his age taken him past this conundrum?






scucci1979

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Re: Early wakings
« Reply #3 on: April 30, 2011, 17:50:24 pm »
Do you think he is teething? Any reflux issues? 
If you get a nap of 1.5hours in the am, I would push second nap out 5mins. Just a little.  Have you tried capping the CN to 30min?

Offline m eyston

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Re: Early wakings
« Reply #4 on: April 30, 2011, 18:08:47 pm »
No reflux.  I don't think he is teething either.    Bottom two teeth are out but none of the dribbling, red cheeks, squeals of pain and fist in mouth that he did during those teeth eruptions are apparent at the moment.

He slept 2 hours this afternoon and then would not take his CN - was in there an hour trying to get him to sleep.  He is now asleep at 7pm with me waiting to see what the morning brings!  It seems to me that he only does 3 hours ten minutes of naps during the day.  He is really very adamant when he doesn't want more sleep or doesn't want the CN.   

I put him down 3 hours after his wake up from his morning nap and he slept for 2 hours, then it was 4 hours until I put him down for his night sleep.  All of this would be fine if he didn't wake up at 5.15 and look horribly tired and pale by mid morning (as do I!).

Fingers crossed for tonight....

Offline m eyston

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Re: Early wakings
« Reply #5 on: May 01, 2011, 06:46:49 am »
5.15am wake up again.  Left for first hour and then tried to re-settle for second hour but to no avail.  Bf at 7am.   Will try WTS tomorrow morning to see if that can get him through.    Strangely last night he woke at 1am and I had to re-settle.

Must admit am getting utterly depressed by this as it feels there is nothing we can do to prevent him waking the whole house at 5.15 which makes us all very tired and grumpy.

Offline m eyston

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Re: Early wakings
« Reply #6 on: May 02, 2011, 12:31:32 pm »
Yesterday was a good day with two 1 1/2 hour naps and a catnap between 5.30 to 6pm.  I tried to get him asleep by 7.30pm (slightly later due to the catnap being late) but my 6 year old had a tantrum just as he fell asleep and therefore woke and kept him awake until 8.15.  Subsequently due to OT, I think, he woke at 10.30pm and moaned himself back to sleep, then 11.50pm and moaned himself back to sleep (not normal behaviour) and then I WTS him at 4.15 which I think meant he did not habitually wake at 5.15 but woke at 5.50.  Moaned for half an hour and then went back to sleep until 7.15am which is a lot better as at least the day starts at a reasonable hour for naps to be at normal hours and not all over by early afternoon leaving you slightly stranded.  Saying that he only slept for 45 minutes this morning.  I am hoping he does 2 hours now - fell asleep at 1.25pm which would mean I could drop the catnap and put him to bed by 6.30/7pm.  I am predictably shattered, but will do the WTS again tonight.  I think the conclusion is he is overtired with his 10hours 15 minutes he does at night and needs better naps and earlier bedtime but this is hard to do when he is already tired at the start....I apologise for sounding like a stuck record but it has felt like Groundhog Day in this flat for the past few months - one step forward, one step back etc  Anyone have any ideas on how I can improve on what I am doing?

scucci1979

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Re: Early wakings
« Reply #7 on: May 02, 2011, 14:49:29 pm »
Don't worry sweetie. I know exactly how you feel. I am stuck on these Ews too and figure out if it is just developmental, routine tweak or just plain teething.   I am going to try w2s soon but need to crawl out of bed to do it. LOL.  Lets see how long he sleeps for his pm nap. 

Offline m eyston

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Re: Early wakings
« Reply #8 on: May 03, 2011, 08:24:31 am »
He had a bad afternoon nap of two 35 minutes so I got him down and asleep by 6.45pm.  This seemed to get rid of those moanings before midnight but when I went to WTS him at 4.15 he was already waking so I creeped back and he then properly woke at 5.30.   I left him for an hour moaning until he started crying out and I went in and did PU PD until 7.  He was very distraught again (had to do PU PD in the afternoon as well).  He has now woken after 35 minutes of his morning nap (PD at 8.30) and my heart goes in to my mouth again...have to go to probably PU PD.  Boy this is hard.  Tracey Hogg says WTS sometimes works the first time so as the second time he was already stirring at 4.15 I may give it a miss tonight but there again she says give it 3 nights trying at least....Good luck your end

Offline m eyston

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Re: Early wakings continues
« Reply #9 on: May 04, 2011, 12:04:14 pm »
Last night was better in at least he didn't wake before 4am which is strange as this was 15 mins before I was going to do WTS.  But it was 4am and hour and fifteen earlier - I must admit I just died when he woke as I thought he is moving his ew earlier - what a nightmare - but as luck would have it he moaned for quite a while and then fell back to sleep until 6.10.  I left him murmuring and moaning in bed until 7.00 when we started the day.  1st nap at 8.50 - 2 x 35 mins with a 20 min moan/putting himself to sleep in the middle.  2nd nap 12.55 - we shall see.  Yesterday was horrible as I had three bouts of PU PD - at the ew and the 2 naps - it made me very edgy/sad and him very upset but it is the only way I know how to go.  He is now going down at 6.30pm without a CN which is sort of helping I think???????

How is it going your end?

Offline m eyston

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Re: EW slowly being solved.
« Reply #10 on: May 05, 2011, 09:11:21 am »
I don't want to tempt fate but we seem to be getting there.  The day before yesterday I had a hellish day of PU PD for the EW (he didn't go back to sleep), plus the 1st and the 2nd nap.    He didn't go back to sleep and cried a lot but he did calm down and lie in his cot until I picked him up for the next bf.  I also got him to bed early - 6.45pm sleep.  He stirred at all his favourite times 4am, 5.10am and then woke at 6.10am and stayed in his cot chatting until I picked him up for a bf at 7am.  His naps that day were 2 - 35 mins in the morning with a 20 minute moan in the middle getting him back to sleep and a 2 hour nap (12.40 - 2.40) in the afternoon with BT at 6.45pm.  Last night he didn't wake up (I did at 4am and stayed awake anxious until he woke - how irritating is that) and woke at 6.10 again and stayed chatting in his cot until 7am bf.  This morning nap has gone without a wake up and I think I will wake him at 10.30 for a bf.  So it seems a hard day of PUPD and dropping the CN (he has never liked the CN) and putting him to bed a hour earlier (6.45) seems to be ironing out the creases and thankfully getting rid of that 5am EW.  Fingers crossed we will keep building on this.  If anyone is interested I will let them know how it is in a few days time?

scucci1979

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Re: Early wakings
« Reply #11 on: May 05, 2011, 11:19:25 am »
keep us posted.